Shampoo -John Masters - Bare Unscented Shampoo
EcoPretty 2/4/2013 10:35:00 AM
Ack! This was AWFUL! I've never had a shampoo leave my hair in such a mess, in such a short time. It made my hair looked stripped and limp, flat on top but frizzy on the ends, and very dry. While visiting my parents this past weekend, my mom even commented that my hair looked "really dry!" I gave this two stars instead of one only because it lacks the irritating essential oils that most organic products contain. But it's back to Earth Science's Fragrance-Free shampoo, which I was using before this and liked (and is half the price as JMO)...
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Crème -Paula's Choice - RESIST Instant Smoothing Anti-Aging Foundation
EcoPretty 1/8/2013 3:16:00 PM
I really wanted to love this as it seemed like a nice mineral foundation with great ingredients! I bought Level 2, which matched my skin tone perfectly and it gave a gorgeous, air-brushed finish at first. But after 15 minutes, my face felt uncomfortably dry and tight. After a week of using this, my skin's become ridiculously dry with tiny flakes all over my forehead and eyes. (I'm only 31 and have normal skin, so this reaction has been bizarre.) Products that contain talc AND titanium dioxide need to contain more emollients/hydrating ingredients or they'll have this uber-drying effect!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Cleansers -Paula's Choice - Earth Sourced Perfectly Natural Cleansing Gel
EcoPretty 11/28/2012 1:21:00 PM
I've been a skincare junkie for 15 years (since suffering awful acne as a teen) and now work in the industry -- and this is one of the best cleansers I've used. It's silky and foams up well & removes all makeup, has no offensive or irritating fragrance, AND contains zero harmful ingredients. (Most of the 'gentle' drugstore cleansers still contain sulfates, parabens and formaldehyde-releasing preservatives.) Would've loved to have given this 5 stars except that it's a little too drying / foaming for my normal skin, especially in the Chicago winter. Lately, I've noticed that my face has been irritated-looking after using this. Just ordered her Skin Recovery Cleanser to try instead.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Blush -Clinique - Blushwear Cream Stick
EcoPretty 11/21/2012 4:56:00 PM
Love these! It was between this and Jane Iredale's cream blush, but I went with Clinique's due to price and reviews. These apply smoothly and are the perfect combo of being richly pigmented while looking natural, and dewy without being greasy. (They finish neither dry nor oily.) I also appreciate the great ingredients: pomegranate sterols, vitamin E, soy sterols, fatty acids. Just wish that Clinique would make more shades. Rosy Blush was too pink for me, but Peachy Blush was too orange.
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Toners -Paula's Choice - Skin Recovery Enriched Calming Toner
EcoPretty 10/28/2012 1:08:00 PM
I love reading Paula's incredibly knowledgable reviews on Beautypedia and have liked almost all her other products I've tried. But this was a big disappointment! I bought this to use as both a toner and as a light, soothing night serum due to its silicone content and evening primrose and borage seed oils. (I thought this would be much thicker than it is). But this did the exact opposite as it claimed: It stung and made my face pink every time I used it! In addition to NOT calming and soothing, it left my face tight and dry-feeling too.
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Sunscreen -Clinique - City Block Sheer Oil-Free Daily Face Protector Broad Spectrum 25 SPF
EcoPretty 10/8/2012 3:06:00 PM
My skin's become really sensitive the past couple years, probably from years of being a skincare junkie and using too many aggressive products. I've been looking high and low for a great tinted moisturizer with non-chemical spf. I tried Jane Iredale, Aveda's and Tarte's with mediocre results and moved onto this. The pros: Contains titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, is antioxidant-rich, and has a built-in primer / leaves skin looking poreless. The cons: It's terribly drying for normal and dry skin. After 15 minutes on, my face is unbearably tight and chalky -- in the hot, humid summer nonetheless. My eyes become really watery and tight too. I tried adding a couple drops of jojoba oil to it but it didn't help.
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Shampoo -Paula's Choice - All Over Hair & Body Shampoo
EcoPretty 9/26/2012 2:00:00 PM
My skin and scalp have become extremely sensitive the past few years. I can't use salon or traditional haircare products because of the irritating fragrance and preservatives like methylisothiazolinone. AND I can't use most organic products now because of the essential oils and their compounds like limonene & linalool. Because I've loved Paula's skincare products, I had high hopes for this shampoo -- despite it containing sodium laureth & ammonium lauryl sulfates. But like the reviewer below me, this left my hair REALLY straw-like and mouse-y. It seemed to dull my summer highlights after just two uses. Like the conditioner, though.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Shampoo -Avalon Organics Botanicals - Olive & Grape Seed Moisturizing Shampoo - Fragrance Free
EcoPretty 9/26/2012 1:50:00 PM
From working in the beauty industry and being a product junkie, my skin and scalp have become extremely sensitive the past few years. I can't use salon OR traditional haircare products because of irritating fragrance and preservatives (e.g. methylisothiazolinone). AND I can't use most organic products because of the essential oils and their compounds like limonene & linalool! Of the many fragrance-free shampoos I've tried, this one is by far the best, both in ingredients and performance. This is the only shampoo that completely stopped my scalp itchiness. Friends have commented that my hair actuallylooks brighter (perhaps due to the chamomile & calendula extracts?) and my hair seems fuller. My only complaint is that I wish it was slightly more moisturizing and contained a chelator (EDTA) since my city has slightly hard water. But overall, this is an excellent product -- effective, healthy, and affordable.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Styling Products -Bumble & Bumble - Prep
EcoPretty 7/29/2012 9:06:00 PM
ACK!! I bought this spray to use as a quasi vitamin serum for my hair. I loved its ingredients: hops, rosemary, biotin, amino acids. But this didn't moisturize OR make my hair look healthier. And for some reason, Bumble and bumble's fragrance irritates my scalp like crazy!! I don't know if the culprit is the diazolidinyl urea (formaldehyde-releasing preservative) or limonene (irritating fragrant component). But I couldn't stop itching my scalp and was losing way more hair. I have this problem with Aveda as well.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Mascara -Neutrogena - Healthy Volume
EcoPretty 6/3/2012 9:08:00 PM
One of the only cosmetics that I refuse to shell out big bucks for is mascara, which lasts just a few months. As a result, I use only drugstore brands. I've now gone through 4 to 5 tubes of this over the past few years. On one hand, it has a nice, fat brush that gives excellent volume, it's relatively affordable, and it has a decent ingredients deck. On the other hand, it seems to mildly irritate my eyes, and every tube I've bought dries out and becomes REALLY flaky after just a month and a half, and I have to toss it in the trash (which I hate doing, being an eco gal.) I wish Neutragena would make the formulation more moisturizing/oily!
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Shampoo -Aveda - Invati Exfoliating Shampoo
EcoPretty 5/13/2012 5:54:00 PM
I had high hopes for the Invati line due to its excellent ingredients -- amla, pomegranate, tumeric, salicylic acid -- and to Aveda stating that it's "clinically proven to thicken hair." Well, publish the details of the clinical study, Aveda, because this did nothing for me! (While we're on the subject, it seems every Lauder brand is bragging about their clinically proven efficacy -- aka Clinique's Even Better Dark Spot Corrector, Origins' Plantscription line, this haircare collection -- but then consumers' experiences reveal the opposite....) Anyway, I used this consistently with the Invati conditioner for 2 months, but had the same experience as the reviewer below: It dried my hair and irritated my scalp. Like most Aveda products, the fragrance is strong and I think I'm allergic to the essential oil components that Aveda, and most natural brands, use (aka linalool, limonene, geraniol). I actually had more--not less--hair in the drain while using this! $50 literally down the drain with zero benefits.
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Treatments -Paula's Choice - Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Lotion Exfoliant
EcoPretty 3/22/2012 12:45:00 PM
This lotion is the best breakout preventer I've used. It's the only BHA product I could find that doesn't contain alcohol or dye. My oily skin is prone to whiteheads and as a result, salicylic acid (which can penetrate oil) is my skin's best friend. I'm a natural gal and have tried numerous willow bark-based products, but it just doesn't do the job like salicylic acid does. I've been using a light layer of this every other night for 3 weeks. It cleared a few stress breakouts and has actually evened out my skin tone. It stings a little upon application but that's to be expected with hydroxy acid products. I love that it contains squalene and green tea. Just wish it had vitamin C.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Cleansers -DHC - Deep Cleansing Oil
EcoPretty 2/13/2012 3:03:00 PM
Ack! I absolutely LOVED this at first and rated it 5 stars. But after a month of using, it started to slightly burn when I applied it and I developed small rosacea-like bumps on my cheeks! I've never had a reaction like this. As I get older, I think my skin just cannot tolerate fragrant essential oils of any kind, e.g. the rosemary oil in this! I'm also wondering if the bad irritation was caused by the high amount of phenoxyethanol....either way, the bumps and redness were gone after just 3 days of not using this. Onto Fancl's Mild Cleanings Oil, which is completely fragrance-free.
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Shampoo -Shu Uemura - Cleansing Oil Shampoo
EcoPretty 2/1/2012 12:38:00 AM
$55 for shampoo -- and one that contains the same cheap, drying detergents as drugstore brands?? Give us a break, Shu Uemura. I was moved to write a review of this (and type out its ingredients) after having a money-down-the drain experience and reading a gushing write-up of it in a recent Wall Street Journal. Economic times are still tough, and no woman needs to spend this much on hair wash! I rushed out like a fool to buy this since facial cleansing oils have transformed my skin. (I love DHC's.) Since my scalp's been itchy, ends have been frizzy, and more hairs have been in the drain lately, I thought a cleansing oil shampoo could be a God-send. Loved this the first 2 weeks. It give nice body and there was less hair in the drain. But it also contains sulfates and sodium chloride in a high concentration -- and it dried my hair and dulled my color after a few weeks. The ingredients aren't outstanding. Its wow factor comes only from an extra dose of emulsifiers and salicylic acid, which can declog the scalp to promote hair growth but not in a rinse-out product. Additionally, it's packed with fragrance, which can make sensitive scalps like mine itchy. Won't repurchase. Ingredients: Aqua, sodium laureth sulfate, mipa-laureth sulfate, sodium chloride, cocamidopropyl betaine, glycerin, peg-18 castor oil dioleate, propylene glycol, peg-55 propylene glycol oleate, avocado oil, laureth-5 carboxylic acid, ppg-5-ceteth-20, sodium benzoate, laureth-2, polyquaternium-53, salicylic acid, limonene (fragrance), alcohol, linalool (fragrance), citronellel (fragrance), safflower glucoside, gentiana lutea extract, thermus thermophilus ferment, citrus junos peel extract, sodium hydroxide, citric acid, fragrance
14 out of 14 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Concealers -Unlisted Brand - RMS Beauty 'Un Cover-Up
EcoPretty 9/1/2011 11:58:00 PM
Talk about a waaaaay over-hyped product! Bought this after reading yet another gushing review on yet another chic organic beauty site. In summary: packaging's terrible, price is sky-high, and results are mediocre. Loved this initially. I dabbed it around my face, then blended with a foundation brush. It gave a dewy, flawless coverage. But unfortunately, it dried out after just a few weeks and became tacky-textured and hard to blend (poor packaging for an organic cosmetic that's supposed to last for months). Then, like the reviewer below, it gave me milia on my cheeks like I've never had before! I think the coconut oil + beeswax + cocoa butter combination is suffocating for my combo skin. My final complaint is this covers dark circles poorly. (It doesn't contain mica.) Last but not least, the $36 price sticker for this small pot -- with a very basic ingredients list -- is a joke. Burt's Bees could develop a version of this for $10 (and I think did at one point). Products like this make a die-hard organic gal like me almost ready to run back to drugstore cosmetics!
7 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No